Exmouth Photo Group
Est. 1969
Newsletter Year 2019
Richard Sercombe and Adrian Harris 4th December 2019
Richard on a return visit to our club showed us how we can spend many hours of time in the pursuit of creating something a little different. It was clear that Richard was always thinking ahead about the creation of composite images by noticing and capturing photos of scenes, potential backgrounds and a wide variety of objects. These were then used with great skill and with many named layers in Photoshop to produce masterful and engaging final images. Certainly there was something a little different with ‘Richard in a glass’ and mindful of the need to improve Richard made the ‘Ian Bateman amendment’ to lights in one image.
Richard was influenced by famous artists such as Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) with his ‘impossible’ ascending and descending staircase and Richard set out to produce his own photographic version ‘in the style of’ and cleverly done it is too (see photo). Clever too is the way Richard photographed at least 50 cameras and combined his photos in a collage of a ‘face’ (see photo). Altogether, much to think about and to try out for ourselves.
Adrian followed with his ‘How to photograph a tractor at night’. Having noticed an abandoned tractor with photographic potential Adrian was quick to assemble equipment to photograph the tractor before it was moved. His detailed plan/check list was impressive with practical reminders (how many times have we gone out without an essential piece of equipment!) It was helpful to hear how Adrian how thought out the positioning and angles of his different flashes and we were impressed with his final results.
Impressive too was Adrian’s ‘Pole photography’. It was useful to learn how Adrian had altered a fishing pole to mount a camera on top with a support for his mobile phone so that the camera could be operated with ease. What a difference it made to Adrian’s photographs with different perspectives on his chosen scenes, with rivers coming into view, overhead views of people walking across bridges and steam locos in all their glory.
Altogether, an entertaining evening viewing Richard and Adrian’s fantastic photography, with much learnt, a lot to think about and the challenge to try some (or all!) of the techniques ourselves.
Review and photos by
Christine Chittock CPAGB, Programme Secretary
GNF (Great Northern Festival AV Weekend) 30 Nov & 1 December
Success for our AV workers; in the New Horizons section (entrants who haven't won an award) we had four winners and in the Great Northern 1 winner.
New Horizons section : 1st Derrick Holliday with his Reconcilliation, gaining him the an L&CPU Medal plus a copy of PTE 10 Studio; 2nd place Mo Martin with her La Vallee des Saints gaining a copy of PTE 10 Studio; 3rd place Peter & Carol Hyett with their Lovanet Lake also gaining them a copy of PTE 10 Studio and Commended for Jenny Baker for her Will you Speak to Me who gained a Ribbon and 1 flash drive.
Great Northern section: Ian Bateman had a Commended for his Valiant Soldier.
Well done all of you, it was a great weekend, we had quite an assortment of AVs plus good company.
Carol and Peter receiving certificate for their AV
Derrick receiving Gold Medal for his AV
The winners - Ian, Peter, Carol, Mo, Jenny, Derrick
27th November 2019 Nick and Heather Bodle
It is always good to have an evening of prints and Nick and Heather from Launceston Camera Club brought along a strong selection of prints including many landscapes and still life. It was evident that they are frequent visitors to the Lake District and Dartmoor and they certainly knew their locations.
Nick started the evening with a dark room print ‘The Rat Catcher’ which had won a gold medal. We also saw some infrared photos such as a Whitby Abbey graveyard scene. Derwent water was a favourite location and we saw a lovely composition of the Millennium stone; a split boulder to mark one hundred years of the National Trust in the Lake District. Both Nick and Heather showed us high key and low key photos and told us about the different papers they use, such as archival matte and Somerset cotton.
It was clear that Heather had a creative eye with plain vases showing off displays of well-chosen flowers set against a white background. Heather set up her scenes at home being mindful of the light to produce the best results. Nick was clearly well experienced at printing and mounting and all their photos were shown off to their best.
In part Nick and Heather achieved such good results because they are prepared to go out in all weathers, other seeking those snowy scenes with fresh snowfall before others have reached the spot. They had secured some beautiful misty scenes at Crummock Water and Grasmere, crisp frost at Postbridge in Dartmoor showing off the famous clapper bridge, a rainbow over Blea Tarn in the Lake District and lovely light over Padstow.
Altogether an interesting and informative evening with an incredible number of prints. To see their website click here
Report and photos by Christine Chittock, CPAGB Exmouth Photo Group Programme Secretary
26 November 2020 - South Devon League (SDL)
The SDL Print Battle between Exmouth, Newton Abbot, Crediton and Dawlish & Teignmouth was held at Newton Abbot. The judge was John Tilsley who did, as far as Exmouth was concerned an excellent job because we came 1st. Please click here to view all images we entered, marks and final results.
He started the evening with his amazing photos of deer in the rutting season. Caught in dappled light we saw a stag festooned with bracken and with this image and those that followed we could see why Andrew’s photos have been selected for the ‘Countryfile’ calendar and published in ‘Amateur Photographer’ magazine. Andrew knows his subjects and how to protect wildlife and this was evident throughout. So Andrew unlike some other photographers would not get too close to seals especially pups, but he could still produce those definitive shots.
Andrew thinks about his compositions and is always looking for something a little different and we could see this in his photographs of dippers, a newly emerged broad bodied chaser dragonfly, a brown hairstreak butterfly laying eggs on blackthorn as well as a great green bush-cricket. Without notes Andrew was able to tell us which camera, lens and settings he used and we were impressed by his incredible recall.
During the tea break we admired Andrew’s prints, particularly ‘Waiting for her Prey’ showing a nursery web spider photographed against a velvety crimson dahlia. A well-deserved winner in the 2018 British Wildlife Photography Awards.
Andrew knows that some of the best photographic opportunities are at dawn in the summer and we could appreciate his efforts with butterflies and damsel flies caught in a beautiful early morning light. However, just as striking and indeed outstanding were his close up photos of a housefly indoors. The crisp detail on these photos was stunning! Definitely some of the very best nature photographs we have seen at the club.
To view Andrew's site please click here
Report and photos by Christine Chittock, CPAGB Exmouth Photo Group Programme Secretary
20 November 2019 - Andrew McCarthy ARPS - ‘Nature Photography: an ecologists' perspective'.
Andrew a keen photographer, professional ecologist and passionate conservationist shared his many photos with us and we were impressed by the quality of his work.
WCPF Kingswood Salver 16 November 2019
The Kingswood Salver was held at the Bovey Tracey Golf Club and EPG entered with their panel Light Reading and I am delighted to say that we got H/C. The Judge was Christine Widdall who gave excellent comments on all the panels.
In the afternoon she gave a presentation of her work and I must say I thought it was of the best presentations I have seen for a long time. A great day out. Sheila Haycox
Competition No. 2 - 13th November 2019
The competition was well attended and the judge was Ann Owens who had a hard task to choose the winning images from each of the sections entered. The overall winner for this competition was Dave Grout with his image Contemplation. To see the images please click here
Dave receiving the trophy from Ann Owens. Image taken by Christine Chittock
Project Evening 30th October 2019
Sheila Haycox ARPS MPAGB/AV EFIAP - Sheila started the evening by showing three more audio visuals (AVs) from the past made by Sheila and John Perriam ARPS DPAGB AFIAP who was absent. To the Spitting Image song ‘Chicken In The Air’ Sheila and John used images from Photo Group summer walks and outings (with some adaptions or quite a lot in some cases!) to match the crazy words of the song. So we saw members up to their waists in water, Sheila submerged in a pint glass, a member hugging a sheep and a Loch Ness monster. We could see how the AGMs were conducted in those days, by animals of course.
In a more serious vein we saw ‘Bicycles’ from Amsterdam. Stationary bicycles, on the move, in the rain, close up, carrying children and with bells jingling. As ever well captured photos. Then we saw outings undertaken in 2012 to Lympstone, Dawlish, Exeter, Topsham, Countess Weir and much more.
So thank you Sheila and John for inspiring so many of us to take photos whatever the weather, of different subjects, from unusual angles, on a theme and all before rushing off to the pub.
Bryan Webb MA – ‘A Photobook’ evening
Members were well prepared and informed for this evening as Bryan had sent out a detailed and comprehensive document about making ‘Photobooks’. Members had responded by bringing their own photobooks and what talent we have in the club with photobooks covering different themes, many locations and family and friends. Photobooks on display were provided by Bryan Webb, Bob Frost, Caroline Ovens, Chaz Madge, Christine Chittock, Deidre Jennings, Derrick Holliday, Elaine Bateman, Ernie King, Gill Stocker, Ian Bateman, Jenny Baker, John Wickett, Sheila Haycox and Tony Ovens.
Bryan (with thanks to Mo Martin) had organised a one off link to the Internet for the evening and so we could see his vast collection of photobooks and watch the development of each book as the pages unfurled. Bryan showed us how he had benefited from joining EPG summer outings to photograph bluebells at Blackberry Camp, a vineyard at Budleigh and the church at Ottery St Mary. Indeed one of his reasons for joining EPG was because of our summer outings.
We were treated to a wonderful display of photos taken on a theme such as the ‘Tour de France’ showing us how we can tell a story by including photos of reconnoitring the best place to take the photos, all the organisers, the spectators as well as the cyclists.
Bryan showed us different layouts, backgrounds, borders and how to add photos and pages. He advocated choosing books with low flat binding and how we could successfully include one photo over two pages.
Altogether it was great to see Bryan’s vast collection of striking photos, such as the Plymouth Fireworks championships and how he put them together so well in one of his many photobooks. Thank you Bryan for an entertaining and informative evening.
Report & Photos byChristine Chittock CPAGB Programme Secretary
Project Evening 23rd October 2019 - Sheila Haycox ARPS MPAGB/AV EFIAP and John Perriam ARPS DPAGB AFIAP
Continuing with our 50th anniversary theme, Sheila and John started the evening with a selection of their audio visuals (AVs). It was most interesting to see the work they had on display in an exhibition at the Welsh Assembly in 2006. Each photograph had a description: “This reflects the complex relationship between land and sea.” Other terms included “Emotionally complex …”, “Panache” and “Integrity of Purpose”. Another clever spoof, but I have a challenge for their next exhibition – The House of Commons will soon be free! On a lighter note and with a humorous approach was ‘Bill and Ben’ which was very well received by the audience, some of whom recognised themselves! Another wonderful start to the evening.
Ian Bateman FRPS MPAGB AV-AFIAP APAGB and Elaine Bateman
Elaine and Ian followed with ‘Travels in the Pacific North West’. It is always good to see how photographs taken on holiday can be shown to good purpose, illustrating photographic opportunities and how they can be used for AVs.
Strong compositions were evident, zoo animals had been captured with clarity, attention to detail was shown in beautiful raindrops and colour tones stood out in reflections. Timing was important particularly the superb use of the golden hour for photos of Seattle; they were absolutely stunning! Elaine and Ian explained the context of their photographs keeping our interest and making us appreciate their determination to achieve those definitive shots.
As ever, photos were well selected for AVs with succinct and relevant voice overs and a variety of well-chosen music. Ian always finds and then tells a very good story with a clever use of photos, illustrations, diagrams and maps, capturing and holding the attention of the audience throughout who are eager to know what comes next.
Altogether a most enjoyable evening.
Christine Chittock CPAGB Programme Secretary
16th October 2019 - Windmills of Your Mind a presentation by Barry Mead FRPS, EFIAP/d3, MPAGB, APAGB http://www.barrymead-photography.com/
We were very fortunate to hear Barry explain how he has achieved such a variety and quantity of creative work over the years. With almost 500 awards (an amazing achievement) from International Photographic Salons, including many gold medals Barry has been successful in producing creative work of a high quality.
Barry’s presentation started with some of his early work which took him days to produce in the days before ‘YouTube’ tutorials showing techniques and step by step processes. With determination, patience, a vast collection of superb photographs including textures, Barry showed us the development of his work.
It was clear that Barry had become very skilful at using ‘layers’ in Photoshop as a large number of completed pieces included a great number of layers. Seeking and capturing photos of clocks, playing cards, tea pots, cups and saucers, Bamburgh Castle, Corfe Castle, Fountains Abbey, Tynemouth Abbey, knights, a variety of birds, bats, beasties and broccoli (as trees) as well as the proverbial moon and much more, Barry showed us his extremely clever use of combining many different photos or a select few into one finished creative piece. Tip: Extra smoke/mist could be included to hide the joins. http://www.barrymead-photography.com/pages/creative-illustration.php
Altogether, a most enjoyable and humorous presentation. So, after an inspirational presentation we can now look to our photographic collections, think creatively, devote time to the skilful use of Photoshop and experiment to see what we can produce. There’s a challenge!
Report by Christine Chittock, CPAGB Programme Secretary
At the recent RPS National AV Competition held in Leeds Ian Bateman received a High Commended award for his AV called The Gallery and John Perriam, President of EPG was able to present Ian his ribbon.
Congratulations Ian.
Wednesday 9th October Open Evening
The Open Evening was very successful with 10 prospective new members attending with members displaying prints and audio visuals.